At 67, Kim Ik-jo
serves as a living link between Korea's past and its current progress for understanding. He used to work at the airport, but now he spends his days leading tourists through the history of the Korean War and the Jeju 4.3 Incident at the Jeju 4.3 Peace Foundation and Memorial Hall.
In this conversation, Mr. Kim discusses his personal path, from growing up in postwar Jeju under government silence on 4.3 to learning the truth through self-study after retirement. He discusses the challenge of fighting ideology, the global context of Jeju's tragedy, and the significance of viewing history not as a division but as a dialogue.
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​He reminds us that learning never ends by paraphrasing a song lyric: "I'm not an old man—I'm learning English, Chinese, and Aranmal, and I'll travel the world." With humility and humor, he explains his continuing project: building a "dictionary of ideology" to help regular people comprehend Jeju 4.3 in human, rather than political, terms.